Rescue & Shelter Dogs

Many dogs in rescue have no major behavioral problems and can be found new homes quickly -- the pretty, cute and friendly ones have the easiest time of it. Then there are the scared, shy and fearful ones, they may be have been born with that type of personality, or their fears may have been created or exacerbated by the treatment they received at the hands of previous owners. Sometimes this can be brutal and at other times, just the fact that the owners did not understand their canine companion and it’s needs, can increase the dog’s anxiety. These are the ones that sit at the back or their kennel, or bark and growl at visitors; some dogs just don’t do well in the noisy, busy kennel situation and cannot “show” themselves off to prospective owners. The longer they are in kennels, the more difficult it becomes to re-home them.

Dogs are given up for re-homing for many reasons; they toilet in the house and get told off for it; they get frantically worried when left and fear that they will be left trapped in a house forever; they destroy all they can find, even break out of crates provided for their safety. Dogs may begin to show aggression to family members, visitors or other dogs and become such a worry that the owners can no longer cope with their own fear that their dog may injure someone or another dog. Some dogs, just end up in a rescue center because “she’s grown too big” (a Great Dane puppy!) or they get a poor reputation due to the reporting of a few dreadful incidents where dogs may have been trained to fight, teased, or left unsupervised with other family members or children. Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds and the cross breeds of those origins, are just a few of the breeds that have been the unfortunate recipients.

Some dogs are so brutally treated, and their trauma so deep set, that it can take many months of patient rehabilitation in a rescue center or more likely by the magnificent numbers of volunteer foster carers, to help that dog overcome his fear of humans and trust once more.

Bark Busters Twin Cities will never give up on a dog if the owner is willing to work with us to rehabilitate him. We will provide, assessments, support, advice and tailored training programs to the wonderful owners who have taken on a rescue dog; we work free of charge with rescue centers and with foster homes, to help the staff and volunteers to train the dogs so that they become well behaved for prospective owners. Some of us even foster dogs ourselves to rehabilitate the more difficult dogs, making finding them a home much easier.

So if you’re thinking of getting a rescue dog, there is a dog out there somewhere waiting patiently for the right home, who will fit in with your lifestyle and be the most wonderful companion that you always wanted. For any issues that you may experience, Bark Busters Twin Cities will assess, investigate and work with you to ensure that your companion stays in his forever home and that you and your dog are happy. In fact, at Bark Busters Minneapolis Saint Paul, we encourage you to adopt a dog from a rescue or animal shelter!